The Voyage of Pedro Álvares Cabral to Brazil and India from Contemporary Documents and Narrative

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London: Printed for the Hakluyt Society

Abstract

Despite his youth and inexperience, Pedro Álvares Cabral (c. 1467-1520), was chosen to lead the ‘first commercial fleet to sail for India’ from Portugal in 1500. Cabral left no written record and historians have had to splice the story of the voyage together from official documents, letters, narratives, missionaries’ accounts, and diaries. The venture was historically and economically important for Portugal. Cabral and his fleet of thirteen ships ‘discovered’ Brazil and Madagascar; the former, which Cabral initially thought was an island, was officially claimed for the King, later colonised and exploited for its resources. The newly established sea-only trade routes with India would also prove to be financially rewarding for Portugal. This Hakluyt map shows the routes taken outward and homeward bound.